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Displaying items by tag: Neil Fleming

#Canoeing: Ronan Foley (19) and Nikolai Thomsen (18) of Denmark were the fastest home as the Liffey Descent celebrated its 60th birthday today. The 32-kilometre test, with 10 weirs and a portage on the journey from Straffan to the Garda Boat Club in Islandbridge, sometimes rewards experienced competitors, but this was an exception. Both young men were competing for the first time in a K2 (double kayak) on this course, but they took advantage of the fast conditons to win a battle with experienced hands Barry Watkins and Neil Fleming. Foley and Thomsen moved in the final 1,000 metres to win in one hour 46 minutes and 40 seconds. Watkins and Fleming came home in 1:46.49.

The entry of 472 boats was blessed with a beautiful day, and there were some excellent peformances. Jenny Egan continued her record of wins in the mixed K2; she and fiance Jon Simmons were fourth at Lucan weir and fifth overall in a new best time for this boat. Malcolm Banks in the men's over 49 K1, also placed high in the overall rankings, while Peter Egan won the men's K1 on his first attempt at the class.

Liffey Descent 2019, Detailed Results (selected)

K2 – Men’s: 1 Ronan Foley (Salmon Leap CC)/Nikolai Thomsen (Denmark) 1:46.40, 2 Neil Fleming (Celbridge Paddlers)/ Barry Watkins (Salmon Leap CC) 1:46.49, 3 Sebastien Fergauven/Sebastien Jocano (Argentina) 1:47.16. Men’s O39: 1 Simon van Lonkhuyzen/Gary Mawer (Salmon Leap CC) 1:55.59, 2 David Francis/Declan Halton (Salmon Leap CC) 1:59.28, 3 Lutz Erichsen/Peter M. Jensen (Denmark) 2:04.09. 

Mixed: 1 Jonathan Simmons/Jenny Egan (Salmon Leap CC) 1:51.52, 2 Deaglan O Drisceoil/Aisling Smith (Salmon Leap CC) 1:57.58, 3 Nicky Cresser/Alison Chmiel (Nottingham CC) 2:07.20.

K1 – Senior Men: 1 Peter Egan (Salmon Leap) 1:57.43, 2 Donnacha Brennan (Thomastown CC) 2:00.22, 3 Odhran McNally (Salmon Leap CC) 2:01.33. O39 men: 1 Dermot Hudson (Salmon Leap CC) 1:59.36, 2 Stewart O’Regan (Salmon Leap CC) 2:04.12, 3 John Parker (Worcester CC) 2:13.19. O49: 1 Malcolm Banks (Salmon Leap CC) 2:02.50, 2 James Butler (Nottingham CC) 2:06.38, 3 Neil Blackman ( Royal Leamington Spa) 2:08.39. Junior men: Senan Forristal (Thomastown Paddlers) 2:01.04, 2 Matthew McCartney (Celbridge Paddlers) 2:08.077, 3 Alex O’Brien (Celbridge Paddlers) 2:20.15. 

Senior women: 1 Margaret Farrell 2:56.23, 2 Sara Griffin 3:10.46, 3 Amy Walsh 3:21.38.Junior women: 1 Aoibhin Ni Broin (Galway CC) 2:39.23.

T2 – Sean Martin/Eddie Martin (Piragua Madrid/Richmond CC) 2:14.39, 2 Fergus Cooper/Morgan Cooper (Canoeing Ireland) 2:16.07, 3 Lar O’Brien/Michael O’Farrell (Kilcullen CC) 2:19.00.

Wildwater – Open: 1 Darragh Clarke (Wild Waater KC) 2:15.4, 2 Maggie Dilai (Nottingham KC) 2:17.49, 3 Alex Sheppy (Devizes CC) 2:26.26

K1 Class B – Men: 1 Colin Wong (Canoeing Ireland) 2:29.46, 2 Mark Redmond (Wild Water KC) 2:30.45, 3 Padraig Dunne Athy Rowing and CC) 2:37.25. O39: 1 Gerry Murphy (Canoeing Ireland) 2:32.12, 2 Edward Broekaart (Canoeing Ireland) 2:34.33, 3 Gary McClure (Belfast CC) 2:36.05 Junior men: 1 Cameron Bannatyne (Soar Valley) 2:18.33, 2 Ethan Dowling (Ribbontail Paddlers) 2:47.03, 3 Michael O’Herlihy (Wild Water KC) 2:48.18

K1 Class C: Men: 1 Craig Stratford (Virginia KC) 2:54.10, 2 Brian James (Cabra KC) 2:56.59, 3 Wojciech Szydlo (Silverbridge KC) 2:59.48. O39: 1 Terry Smith (Athy Rowing and CC) 2:37.10, 2 Andrew Redmond (Wild Water KC) 2:39.30 3 Dermot Forristal (Thomastown Paddlers) 2:39.44. Junior men: 1 Daniel Stratford (Virginia KC) 2:38.40, 2 Barry Stratford (Virginia KC) 2:41.29, 3 Alex Russell (Canoeing Ireland) 2:44.35. 

Women: 1 Ciara Gurhy (Wild Water KC) 2:47.45, 2 Helen Flanagan (Share Centre) 2:55.53, 3 Yvonne Crosse (Phoenix KC) 3:04.21. O39: 1 Fiona Kelly (Wildwater KC) 2:49.50, 2 Yvonne Kelly Castleknock Community Collge KC) 2:50.38, 3 Mary Fitzgerald (Athy Rowing and CC) 2:58.27. Junior women: 1 Emma Fay (Ribbontail Paddlers) 3:14.20, 2 Rachel Alexander (Virginian KC) 3:20.04. 

C1 – 1 Stephen Dunne (Mullingar CC) 3:11.16, 2 Andy Jeffers (Phoenix CC) 3:26.30, 3 Paul Magee (Canoeing Ireland) 4:05.55

C2 - 1 Ben Boland/Roger McClure (Kilkenny Aqua CC) 2:37.26, 2 Gearoid Jones/James Dillon (DIT CC) 2:47.54 3 Gerry Coonan/Gerry O’Brien (Wild Water KC) 3:00.42. C2 (mixed) – 1 Elaine Alexander/Richard Hobson (CANI/Lisburn City Paddlers) 2:57.58, 2 Colin Lively/Jacqui McVicar (Share Centre) 3:06.04, 3 Eamonn Dodd/Lynda Byron (Wild Water KC) 3:15.50.

C3 – 1 D Comerford/S O’Neill/S O’Neill (Thomastown Paddlers) 2:48.24, 2 Y Kalogerakis/ D Holden/B Comerford (Canoeing Ireland) 2:51.20, 3 K Durkan/S Durkan/M Fitzsimon (Celbridge Paddlers) 3:00.20.

Best Club (combined K1 and K2 times) : Salmon Leap Canoe Club, Leixlip

International Trophy: Ireland.

Published in Canoeing
An Irish contingent is in Singapore this weekend to compete at the 19th ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships.
In the women's K1, Jenny Egan - the Irish Times/Irish Sports Council Sportwoman of the Month in June this year - was set to face six laps of the 4.2km course with six portages in the women's K1.
Meanwhile, her brother Peter Egan - teaming today with Neil Fleming in men's K2 - is scheduled to face seven laps with seven portages.
Fleming and Richard Hendron were also set to take on the same course in the men's K1.
Live streaming of the weekend's competition, which concludes this evening, is available HERE.

An Irish contingent is in Singapore this weekend to compete at the 19th ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships.

In the women's K1, Jenny Egan - the Irish Times/Irish Sports Council Sportswoman of the Month in June this year - was set to face six laps of the 4.2km course with six portages in the women's K1. 

Meanwhile, her brother Peter Egan - teaming today with Neil Fleming in men's K2 - is scheduled to face seven laps with seven portages. 

Fleming and Richard Hendron were also set to take on the same course in the men's K1.

Live streaming of the weekend's competition, which concludes this evening, is available HERE.

Published in Canoeing

Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) in Ireland Information

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is a charity to save lives at sea in the waters of UK and Ireland. Funded principally by legacies and donations, the RNLI operates a fleet of lifeboats, crewed by volunteers, based at a range of coastal and inland waters stations. Working closely with UK and Ireland Coastguards, RNLI crews are available to launch at short notice to assist people and vessels in difficulties.

RNLI was founded in 1824 and is based in Poole, Dorset. The organisation raised €210m in funds in 2019, spending €200m on lifesaving activities and water safety education. RNLI also provides a beach lifeguard service in the UK and has recently developed an International drowning prevention strategy, partnering with other organisations and governments to make drowning prevention a global priority.

Irish Lifeboat Stations

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland, with an operational base in Swords, Co Dublin. Irish RNLI crews are tasked through a paging system instigated by the Irish Coast Guard which can task a range of rescue resources depending on the nature of the emergency.

Famous Irish Lifeboat Rescues

Irish Lifeboats have participated in many rescues, perhaps the most famous of which was the rescue of the crew of the Daunt Rock lightship off Cork Harbour by the Ballycotton lifeboat in 1936. Spending almost 50 hours at sea, the lifeboat stood by the drifting lightship until the proximity to the Daunt Rock forced the coxswain to get alongside and successfully rescue the lightship's crew.

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895.

FAQs

While the number of callouts to lifeboat stations varies from year to year, Howth Lifeboat station has aggregated more 'shouts' in recent years than other stations, averaging just over 60 a year.

Stations with an offshore lifeboat have a full-time mechanic, while some have a full-time coxswain. However, most lifeboat crews are volunteers.

There are 46 lifeboat stations on the island of Ireland

32 Irish lifeboat crew have been lost in rescue missions, including the 15 crew of the Kingstown (now Dun Laoghaire) lifeboat which capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Palme on Christmas Eve 1895

In 2019, 8,941 lifeboat launches saved 342 lives across the RNLI fleet.

The Irish fleet is a mixture of inshore and all-weather (offshore) craft. The offshore lifeboats, which range from 17m to 12m in length are either moored afloat, launched down a slipway or are towed into the sea on a trailer and launched. The inshore boats are either rigid or non-rigid inflatables.

The Irish Coast Guard in the Republic of Ireland or the UK Coastguard in Northern Ireland task lifeboats when an emergency call is received, through any of the recognised systems. These include 999/112 phone calls, Mayday/PanPan calls on VHF, a signal from an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) or distress signals.

The Irish Coast Guard is the government agency responsible for the response to, and co-ordination of, maritime accidents which require search and rescue operations. To carry out their task the Coast Guard calls on their own resources – Coast Guard units manned by volunteers and contracted helicopters, as well as "declared resources" - RNLI lifeboats and crews. While lifeboats conduct the operation, the coordination is provided by the Coast Guard.

A lifeboat coxswain (pronounced cox'n) is the skipper or master of the lifeboat.

RNLI Lifeboat crews are required to follow a particular development plan that covers a pre-agreed range of skills necessary to complete particular tasks. These skills and tasks form part of the competence-based training that is delivered both locally and at the RNLI's Lifeboat College in Poole, Dorset

 

While the RNLI is dependent on donations and legacies for funding, they also need volunteer crew and fund-raisers.

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